SUMMARY: Edith Green, age 20, died on July 10, 1926 after an abortion perpetrated in Boston by Dr. Thomas Walsh.
The Grisly Discovery
On July 13, 1926, a laborer on his way to work stumbled across a grisly find: the dismembered remains of a young woman, tossed along the side of a lonely road between two cemeteries near Boston. Boston police began their investigation, but had little to go on.
Edith Green
Parts of the body were packed into two cardboard boxes, "tied by window cord in sailor knots." More of the body was in a burlap bag. Other parts of the woman's body were wrapped in Boston newspapers dated June 27. "A pair of nile green hose and a white cotton nightdress, with a pink ribbon, the only clothing found, offered no clew to her identity," the New York Times said.
Dr. Leary, the Boston medical examiner, said that the young woman was approximately 25 years of age, 5'6" tall, weighing 120 pounds, with bobbed black hair and dark brown eyes. She had evidently been dismembered shortly after her death, Leary said. The dismemberment was expertly done, Leary said, indicating that the killer might be a skilled surgeon. Leary estimated that the young woman had been dead from 48 to 72 hours at the time of autopsy.
Leary also did not at first release a definitive cause of death. He said that "blood poisoning" was likely and indicted that, as the New York Times said, "evidence pointed to illegal surgery."
"The only indication as to the identity of the murderer came from young men who saw a well-dressed, middle-aged man nervously driving an automobile in the vicinity" the previous night.
Nearly twenty families of missing women contacted the morgue in the first hours after the body was found, but the descriptions of their loved ones did not fit the victim. Police provided pictures of the victim to local papers for publication to aid in identification of the woman.
The Woman's Identity
By July 15, the young woman had been positively identified as 20-year-old Edith Louise Green, who had been an attendant at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. Another employee, Bessie Landry, identified Edith by photographs of the victim and by describing a mole and her dental work. Bessie told one source that she was Edith's sister.
Edith had been raised as a ward of the state, along with her two siblings. She got a job at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital as a day attendant on April 26, 1926. But the night of June 23, she left, never to return.
She was next tracked to lodgings in Roxbury, where she took a room on July 8 and left her belongings there. "That same night," the New York Times said, "a young man called for her and took her away with him. She was never again seen alive."
The Mystery Man
Police began a search for the young man, who had obtained a marriage license for himself and Edith on July 3.
"Policeman visited the home of William J. Ford in South Boston," the New York Times said, "and took him and his brother and father to the morgue for questioning. Ford's mother collapsed when the police took her son into custody." Later reports indicate that 21-year-old James Vincent Ford, evidently William J. Ford's brother, was the "sweetheart" responsible for Edith's pregnancy.
"I met her two years ago in South Boston," the younger Ford told police. "She was a pretty girl, with pretty brown eyes and dark hair and we became very fond of each other. When I met her she was working as a maid. I saw her several times before last summer when she became a patient at the Canton state hospital."
"She got out of the hospital last September and took a job in Swampscott, where I went to see her a lot."
"She told me about a month ago that she was to become a mother. For a time I didn't do anything about it. Then one day she told me she was fainting frequently and was afraid the doctors there would learn what the matter was."
"Then finally we decided to get married. You see, I liked her a lot. She was a nice girl. We went to see a priest in Dorchester and he advised us to get married and we thought we should. But something she told me frightened me and I said I thought we hadn't better get married."
The Abortionist
Ford sought out the services of abortionist Dr. Thomas E. Walsh.
"I had heard of Dr. Walsh, so last Thursday night I went to his office. When I walked in he said, 'Well, what's the trouble, son?' I told him what I wanted and he agreed. Friday morning [July 9] I went there with Edith and paid him $150. I left Edith there and returned that night."
"The doctor told me to come back again Saturday night and when I did, he said, 'Well, everything is going to be all right."
"I saw Edith lying on a couch in the doctor's office and she seemed to be in fine shape," Ford told police.
A Horrible Situation
"On Sunday I telephoned the doctor about noon," Ford said, "and he said for me to hurry there immediately. When I arrived he said, 'She's gone.'"
"I said, 'Gone? What do you mean, she's gone?'"
"'She's dead,' the doctor said. Then I fainted. When I got up I said, 'Well, let's tell the police quick.'" Walsh told him, "Sit down and get your nerve, son. We've got to get rid of this body."
Ford went to the kitchen and spoke with Mrs. Walsh. "'Isn't this terrible?' Mrs. Walsh asked me. 'The doctor never had anything like this happen before. She must have had heart failure.'"
Ford went to the office and found Dr. Walsh pacing the floor nervously. Walsh pointed out to Ford that Edith was a ward of the state and had no family, so nobody would ever come looking for her. "Well, we argued for a while and the doctor insisted that I would have to help him dispose of the body. But I didn't. I left the house and I didn't hear any more about it until I saw the newspapers on Tuesday."
The Search for Dr. Walsh
Arrest warrants were issued for Walsh and his wife on murder charges. Police raided Walsh's office, where they found Edith's internal organs in a garbage barrel. They also found a record book with incriminating information in it. Walsh and his wife, however, were nowhere to be found.
Walsh's attorney later arranged for his client to turn himself in only after police assured that he would be able to immediately be released on bail.
Walsh already had an unsavory history. He had been convicted of practicing without a license, had been implicated in two previous abortion cases, and had been prosecuted unsuccessfully for federal narcotics charges.
The search for culprits in Edith's death also netted a thoroughly intoxicated Dr. John Leo Hanson, who admitted to having been in Boston when Edith vanished, but who denied having any part in her death or dismemberment. He knew Walsh, he said, but hadn't seen him in five years.
James Ford was charged as an accessory before the fact.
Aside: Amidst the coverage of Edith Green's death is a news snippet noting that Dr. James P. A. Nolan was arrested for the criminal abortion death of 18-year-old Lillian McCullough. Within three hours of Lillian's death, the article says, "the police had arrested the physician and Richard A. King, 21, and Mrs. Abbie M. Graham, 37, both of Waltham, as accessories."
The Grisly Discovery
On July 13, 1926, a laborer on his way to work stumbled across a grisly find: the dismembered remains of a young woman, tossed along the side of a lonely road between two cemeteries near Boston. Boston police began their investigation, but had little to go on.
Dr. Leary, the Boston medical examiner, said that the young woman was approximately 25 years of age, 5'6" tall, weighing 120 pounds, with bobbed black hair and dark brown eyes. She had evidently been dismembered shortly after her death, Leary said. The dismemberment was expertly done, Leary said, indicating that the killer might be a skilled surgeon. Leary estimated that the young woman had been dead from 48 to 72 hours at the time of autopsy.
Leary also did not at first release a definitive cause of death. He said that "blood poisoning" was likely and indicted that, as the New York Times said, "evidence pointed to illegal surgery."
"The only indication as to the identity of the murderer came from young men who saw a well-dressed, middle-aged man nervously driving an automobile in the vicinity" the previous night.
Nearly twenty families of missing women contacted the morgue in the first hours after the body was found, but the descriptions of their loved ones did not fit the victim. Police provided pictures of the victim to local papers for publication to aid in identification of the woman.
The Woman's Identity
By July 15, the young woman had been positively identified as 20-year-old Edith Louise Green, who had been an attendant at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. Another employee, Bessie Landry, identified Edith by photographs of the victim and by describing a mole and her dental work. Bessie told one source that she was Edith's sister.
Edith had been raised as a ward of the state, along with her two siblings. She got a job at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital as a day attendant on April 26, 1926. But the night of June 23, she left, never to return.
She was next tracked to lodgings in Roxbury, where she took a room on July 8 and left her belongings there. "That same night," the New York Times said, "a young man called for her and took her away with him. She was never again seen alive."
The Mystery Man
"Policeman visited the home of William J. Ford in South Boston," the New York Times said, "and took him and his brother and father to the morgue for questioning. Ford's mother collapsed when the police took her son into custody." Later reports indicate that 21-year-old James Vincent Ford, evidently William J. Ford's brother, was the "sweetheart" responsible for Edith's pregnancy.
"I met her two years ago in South Boston," the younger Ford told police. "She was a pretty girl, with pretty brown eyes and dark hair and we became very fond of each other. When I met her she was working as a maid. I saw her several times before last summer when she became a patient at the Canton state hospital."
"She got out of the hospital last September and took a job in Swampscott, where I went to see her a lot."
"She told me about a month ago that she was to become a mother. For a time I didn't do anything about it. Then one day she told me she was fainting frequently and was afraid the doctors there would learn what the matter was."
"Then finally we decided to get married. You see, I liked her a lot. She was a nice girl. We went to see a priest in Dorchester and he advised us to get married and we thought we should. But something she told me frightened me and I said I thought we hadn't better get married."
The Abortionist
Ford sought out the services of abortionist Dr. Thomas E. Walsh.
"I had heard of Dr. Walsh, so last Thursday night I went to his office. When I walked in he said, 'Well, what's the trouble, son?' I told him what I wanted and he agreed. Friday morning [July 9] I went there with Edith and paid him $150. I left Edith there and returned that night."
"The doctor told me to come back again Saturday night and when I did, he said, 'Well, everything is going to be all right."
"I saw Edith lying on a couch in the doctor's office and she seemed to be in fine shape," Ford told police.
A Horrible Situation
"On Sunday I telephoned the doctor about noon," Ford said, "and he said for me to hurry there immediately. When I arrived he said, 'She's gone.'"
"I said, 'Gone? What do you mean, she's gone?'"
"'She's dead,' the doctor said. Then I fainted. When I got up I said, 'Well, let's tell the police quick.'" Walsh told him, "Sit down and get your nerve, son. We've got to get rid of this body."
Ford went to the kitchen and spoke with Mrs. Walsh. "'Isn't this terrible?' Mrs. Walsh asked me. 'The doctor never had anything like this happen before. She must have had heart failure.'"
Ford went to the office and found Dr. Walsh pacing the floor nervously. Walsh pointed out to Ford that Edith was a ward of the state and had no family, so nobody would ever come looking for her. "Well, we argued for a while and the doctor insisted that I would have to help him dispose of the body. But I didn't. I left the house and I didn't hear any more about it until I saw the newspapers on Tuesday."
The Search for Dr. Walsh
Arrest warrants were issued for Walsh and his wife on murder charges. Police raided Walsh's office, where they found Edith's internal organs in a garbage barrel. They also found a record book with incriminating information in it. Walsh and his wife, however, were nowhere to be found.
Walsh's attorney later arranged for his client to turn himself in only after police assured that he would be able to immediately be released on bail.
Walsh already had an unsavory history. He had been convicted of practicing without a license, had been implicated in two previous abortion cases, and had been prosecuted unsuccessfully for federal narcotics charges.
The search for culprits in Edith's death also netted a thoroughly intoxicated Dr. John Leo Hanson, who admitted to having been in Boston when Edith vanished, but who denied having any part in her death or dismemberment. He knew Walsh, he said, but hadn't seen him in five years.
James Ford was charged as an accessory before the fact.
Aside: Amidst the coverage of Edith Green's death is a news snippet noting that Dr. James P. A. Nolan was arrested for the criminal abortion death of 18-year-old Lillian McCullough. Within three hours of Lillian's death, the article says, "the police had arrested the physician and Richard A. King, 21, and Mrs. Abbie M. Graham, 37, both of Waltham, as accessories."
One more note: Edith's abortion was typical of pre-Roe abortions in that it was performed by a physician.
Sources: